‘We are going to see more people this winter’: COVID-19 challenges Guesthouse Shelter in Midland

Nathan Sykes currently has more questions than answers.

The newly-minted CEO of Midland’s Guesthouse Shelter is in the midst of trying to figure out how the organization will help the community’s most vulnerable residents this winter. But the constantly changing regulations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have made planning very difficult.

As it stands, Sykes doesn’t quite know how The Guesthouse Shelter will operate this winter. What he does know is that there will be an extreme need for the services it provides.

“We are going to see more people this winter,” said Sykes. “There are a lot of people who have been laid off or have seen their hours reduced and CERB just ended. So, we expect a whole lot more people to be coming here who are not necessarily homeless, but in a state of being precariously housed.”

As of Oct. 1, the shelter building located at 522 Elizabeth St. remained closed. The facility shut down in late March and guests were relocated to local motels. 

Sykes and his staff have been working toward reopening the shelter, but constantly-changing COVID-19 regulations haven’t made it easy. 

Under current regulations, the shelter is allowed to have only 10 people in the building at one time. That means the Guesthouse would have room for only eight guests and two staff members.

“We normally have room for 18 and we are always full,” said Sykes. “So how do we decide which eight people will stay at the shelter? And what do we do with the wait list and overflow of people looking to be housed?”

Over the course of the past seven months, the Guesthouse has continuously supported an average of 20 people at local motels. At one point, there were 44 guests staying in motels. 

Shelter staff have been preparing meals and delivering them to the motels twice a day.

According to Jan Janssen, director of children and community services with the County of Simcoe, more funding would be needed in order for the motel program to continue through the winter. 

The motel model, which is being run by five shelters and two out-of-the-cold programs, costs the county $450,000 per month. 

“In addition to the costs of funding the rooms, the county is funding 24-7 staffing, security, deep-cleaning measures, personal protective equipment and all locations have been provided with a defibrillator,” said Janssen. 

With extra funding not guaranteed, local shelter executives have been continuing to explore options. They all meet over Zoom twice a week to collectively plan for the future. 

“We continue to plan what the winter could look like and what transition back to community could look like,” said Janssen. “The plan evolves all the time. We are building it as we go and it takes all of our heads around the table to sort this out.”

Sykes plans on reaching out to the north Simcoe community for assistance.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reporter Andrew Mendler was curious about how the Guesthouse Shelter would be operating this winter in the midst of a pandemic. So, he reached out to shelter officials for details.